


I swear I'd give my life for you

by Doctorpants



Series: When the curtain closes [1]
Category: Miss Saigon - Schönberg/Boublil/Maltby
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, Memory box, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Sacrifice, Tam learns about Kim, Ten Years Later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23918038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctorpants/pseuds/Doctorpants
Summary: It's ten years after Kim's death, and Tam, Chris, and Ellen are living in America as a family.Tam decides it is time to ask about his birth mother, and he learns about the extraordinary sacrifice she had to make for him.
Relationships: Chris/Ellen (Miss Saigon), Chris/Kim (Miss Saigon)
Series: When the curtain closes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724047
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	I swear I'd give my life for you

Tam Scott usually went by his middle name, John, nowadays. He was given that name because of his dad’s best friend John. Tam’s friends even nicknamed that by calling him Jack Scott. But to his Dad, Chris Scott, and his mom Ellen, he was always Tam. 

Tam knew he didn’t look like his parents. He knew that his birth mother was from Vietnam, but his parents rarely talked about her. His dad would just get really sad, and that was the last thing Tam wanted. But he always felt different and out of place, no matter how hard he tried.

For Tam’s twelfth birthday, he decided to ask mom about his other mother. “Look, mom, I know that Dad gets really upset but I want to know! I’m ready, mom.”

Ellen sighed. Sure, she knew this day would come ever since they took Tam home. But she was never sure she’d ever be ready.

“Your father met your mother when he was stationed in Vietnam, you knew that right?” Ellen began. Tam nodded. He did know that his dad served in the War, and he never liked to talk about it. None of Dad’s war buddies talked about it. 

“Well, your mom was a Vietnamese dancer, she was supposed to entertain the soldiers.”   
“A dancer? Like a pole dancer?” Tam asked.

“How do you know what that is?” Ellen quickly retorted.

“I’m twelve, mom, not a baby. I know things.”

Ellen sighed. “We are going to have a conversation about that later, mister. But yes, she was a person who sold herself to the soldiers.”

“So I’m like a bastard baby.”

“Not at all, your dad and your mother got married in Vietnam, but your dad had to leave to come back here. And they lost contact. She had you, and all she ever wanted was for you to come to America.” Ellen recalled. She remembered meeting Kim in the hotel room like it was yesterday, and she figured that would remain the same for the rest of her life. That was the day her life truly changed forever. 

“Did-Did Dad know about me? If he left my mom and knew about me, then why would he want me back now?”

“Tam, he didn’t know. Kim-your mother- she didn’t know when he left, either. And she was supposed to come with him, but it fell through. I was one of the nurses at the hospital when your dad was recovering from some pretty bad emotional wounds, Tam. He was very sick in the head, and he needed to get well. I helped him.”

Ellen continued, “We fell in love and got married, you know all that. And then your Uncle John told your dad that he found your mother, and that you and her were living in Thailand.”

Tam stopped her. “I thought I was from Vietnam, why were we in Thailand?”

Ellen exhaled deeply. “Because Vietnam was no longer safe for you. Your mother wanted you to come here, and to do that she couldn’t stay in Vietnam. We met up with her, and she sacrificed herself so that you would come with us. It was really hard for your dad, and it took him a long time to recover from watching your mother-”

Ellen couldn’t finish that sentence. Sure Tam was mature now, but she wasn’t sure anyone would want to hear about their mother’s death like that.

“Your mother is dying in front of him.” She concluded.

Tam was silent for a long time.

“So is that why Dad doesn’t like to talk about it?” he finally spoke up.

“It’s hard for him to relive that, but I think you being you makes it easier for him. A part of Kim is alive still, and I think that makes your dad a lot better. But it is still not an easy thing fr\or him, Tam. He had nightmares of that night for a very long time. It hurt me to see him in so much pain, but I had you to care for, too.”

Tam wasn’t sure how to respond. 

“We have a big party we have to set up for, Tam. All your friends are coming by the house to celebrate. Why don’t we go back downstairs sweetie?” Ellen decided to say after what felt like an eternity of silence.

“Mom?” Tam asked in a meek voice as he looked up at Ellen, who was already on her way to the door.

Ellen smiled at him. “Yes, sweetie?”

“Do you have any pictures?”

Ellen brought him to her bedroom. In the closet, on Chris’ side, was a shoebox marked “Vietnam.” It was buried far back, but it didn’t look dusty or decrepit, like it wasn’t opened very long ago.

“If we have anything, Tam, it would be in here. Go through this while I start making that macaroni, okay?”

Tam found his Dad’s dog tag. Srgt. Christopher Scott. It was bent beat up, like it had certainly seen better days. 

There was a photograph of Uncle John next to a really big helicopter. And there was another photo of his dad and Uncle John and someone Tam didn’t recognize sitting at a campfire. 

Tam was about to give up when he saw it. There were a few photos laying on the bottoms that were covered by a scrap of his Dad's uniform, like they had been hidden.

A young girl wearing a golden circle on her head with his Dad in his uniform. There were candles everywhere, and some other girls in beautiful dresses around them.

The other two photos were labeled. There was a photo Tam had seen before of himself in what he now knew was Thailand that was taken for the profile Uncle John had created for his case. But this one was not cropped, and he could see into the room he was standing in for that picture to happen. It was run down and there were coloring supplies scattered across the floor. He couldn’t really remember his life in Vietnam, but he felt a twinge of nostalgia and a sense of something very familiar about this scene. 

The last photo was of just of Kim with a small inscription on it: “She always loved you, American boy. - The Engineer.” 

Tam knew the Engineer meant his elusive Uncle Tran. He was a mysterious person that would randomly come to visit and claimed Tam was his favorite nephew. He was talk in Vietnamese to Tam, and Tam would be able to make out only a few words. But he liked his funny stories, even though his parents didn’t.

The picture was a beautiful woman, Kim, in a worn T-shirt and pants. She was outside somewhere obviously hot, but she was smiling lightly. 

Tam just held this picture as close to his heart as he could for a few moments. He took a deep breath before pulling away to gaze at it again. 

“Thanks, mom.” he told the picture before neatly rearranging everything in the box to how it was and returning it to the closet. Somehow, Tam felt that Kim wasn’t really gone. He sensed that his dad felt like that, too. 

Tam walked downstairs to greet his friends for the party he was throwing for his twelfth birthday. He smiled, though, because he knew he got the wish he really wanted. 

And somewhere in that great beyond, someone was smiling too, because she also got what she wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of my series "Post-Canon musicals" that is me just writing out some headcanons about what happens to my favorite characters after the curtains close. I update the series on Wednesdays, so check it out!
> 
> Thank you for the support!


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